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Charges: Couple cheated nearly $1M from Medicaid

The Minnesota attorney general's office has charged a Brooklyn Center couple with six counts of Medicaid fraud.

Stephen and Anita Soledolu, the owners of a company called Sole Provider Nursing Services, are charged with fraudulently billing Medicaid for nearly $1 million in claims.

Attorney general spokesman Ben Wogsland said since 2006, the couple submitted claims for home health care assistance that raised questions.

"In one case we had the actual owner herself billing for 42 hours in a given day for approximately a week straight, which is obviously a red flag," Wogsland said.

Minnesota Department of Human Services investigators first noticed the discrepancies.

"Things like billing for more than 24 hours of personal care services in a given day, billing for services at times when the patient couldn't receive the home services because they were in the hospital and other fraudulent billings," Wogsland said.

Wogsland said they found claims submitted on behalf of personal care attendants that no longer worked for the company.

Payments to the company have been frozen, Wogsland said. The two each face penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines if convicted of the six count criminal complaint.

The court will issue a summons and set a date for the couple to appear. If they fail to appear, a warrant will be issued for their arrest.